Italian American Digest DigestSpring2019RevisedFinalDraft | Page 3

SPRING 2019
Italian American Digest
C
iao a tutti!
each March
the Italian
Americans join
together in
honoring Saint
Joseph on his
feast day and in
celebration of our shared
culture. The Saint Joseph’s Day
altar tradition began in Sicily
during the Middle Ages. The
island experienced a major
drought and famine and so the
Sicilians prayed to St. Joseph,
their patron saint, for assis-
tance. They promised that they
would hold a feast in his name
if their prayers were answered.
Rain began to fall, saving the
crops, the livestock, and the
Sicilians. The Sicilians, in
return, filled altars in their town
squares with food as gift
offerings; all the food was
distributed to the less fortunate.
When Sicilians immigrated to
Louisiana, they brought the St.
Joseph’s altar tradition with
them.
While Saint Joseph’s Day is
observed by Italian Americans
across the United States, I have
to say Louisiana does it best.
Each year on Saint Joseph’s Day,
local schools, churches, private
homes, and even some grocery
stores put up altars, filled with
fava beans, baked goods, and
a variety of other foods and
objects. Today the tradition
has been adopted by the entire
state. In addition to altars, there
are two parades honoring our
Italian heritage, the Irish Italian
Parade in Metairie and the Ital-
ian American St. Joseph Soci-
ety’s St. Joseph’s Day Parade in
the French Quarter. Keep an eye
out for me in both parades - I’ll
be with the Sansepolcro Flag
Throwers who are returning to
Louisiana for a 35th year!
Warmly,
Frank Maselli
AICC Chairman
PAGE 3
49th Annual
St. Joseph’s Parade
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Hosted by the Italian American St. Joseph Society
Saint Joseph’s Day Parade
3/23/19 at 6pm
A letter from Peter Gilberti, President of the Italian American St. Joseph Society
The St. Joseph Society was founded in 1970 and has
climbed to heights of 1500 members in recent years. Our
objective is to keep our Italian heritage prevalent in New
Orleans, the destination of so many of our forefathers in the
19th and 20th centuries. Our organization is unique in that
we have incorporated the focal point of New Orleans’ fes-
tive culture, the parade, into our love of our Italian heritage.
We celebrate of St. Joseph’s Day this way each year.
The evening begins with fabulous Italian cuisine and
fine wine, and, of course, Italian music. The parade then
proceeds through New Orleans’ famous “little Palermo” as
dubbed in the 1800’s (Vieux Carre). Thousands of locals
and tourists line the streets to take part in our celebration.
We exchange salutations, hand out silk flowers and fava
beans, and dance and sing with the bystanders.
We will follow the parade with a gala in the grand ball-
room of the New Orleans Hilton Riverside Hotel, where our
beautiful, young Italian signorinas are presented. We sip the
wine and dance the Tarantella all night long. This event is the
pinnacle of each year; however, we do enjoy events through-
out the year. On March 9, 2019, our Outreach Program will
be hosting an event at the St. Jude Center, 400 N. Rampart
Street, where we will prepare and serve a delicious pasta and
meatball lunch to those in attendance.
This great organization allows all of the Italian Ameri-
cans in New Orleans to enjoy the company of one another
in a fun and festive environment. We celebrate life in appre-
ciation of our heritage and strive to keep it significant in our
city as it has been for over 100 years. We sincerely invite you,
as an Italian American, to join the Italian American St Joseph
Society and celebrate your heritage with us in New Orleans.
Information about parading and Gala tickets can be found on our
website: www.iasjs.org
37th Annual Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade
Sunday March 24th, 2019 at 12pm in Metairie